How is Windows Hello on the Lumia 950?

[Doctor_Who]

I got a Lumia 950 a few months ago. I know that the Lumia 950 is capable of using the new Windows Hello feature. I'm interested in learning more about it and am considering using it. But there's an article I found on Petri.com which was less than flattering for Windows Hello on the 950 and 950XL.So I'm wondering, has Windows Hello on the 950 improved since the article on Petri.com back in January?

 

[abhishek singh21]

yes lumia 950 has windows hello support , this will help you on how to: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...ck-your-lumia-950-or-lumia-950-xl-with-a-look

with the regular firmware and software OTAs the windows hello service has become much more reliable and snappier than ever.

 

[mattiasnyc]

I wear glasses and the success rate is about 95% I'd say, even during the day outside. If I were you I'd just try it. If you don't like it then don't use it.

 

[daelumia]

It has improved a great deal since the early days. It is much faster. My only complaint is that there is no "frame" to help you aim the IR camera at yourself when you are trying to log in. On the XL at least, you have to hold it at a slight angle. Still seems a little like a beta feature, but much improved, more polished. Give it a try! Pro tip: spend some time improving recognition in different lighting, with/without glasses, etc.

 

[Ganesh Vu]

I saw small video clip that he unlocking his Windows 10 PC with his Lumia 950 XL using windows hello function (IRIS Scanner). I googled it how to setup my lumia but no better results regarding this. Can anyone help regarding this?

 

[MBY]

I just got the 950 on a great deal and decided to try it out. I have been having a ton of trouble with the iris scanner. I have fairly small eyes (don't know if that would matter) and also wear glasses. At first I tried to train it without glasses, which worked okay-ish. I can't get it to work with glasses at all, no matter how much I try to improve the recognition.

 

[mattiasnyc]

Don't know what to say really. For me it does work pretty reliably with glasses, in the dark or outside during the day. Sometimes it's quick, sometimes it takes some time, and I'd say about 5% of the time it'll fail.

 

[Byrese]

I've had a 950 for almost 3 weeks now. I just started using the feature. So far It's a little hit and miss but overall had been a positive experience. I'll keep trying it out and get back to you. For now that's what I got.

Sent from my Lumia 950 on mTalk

 

[mattiasnyc]

Perhaps something to try for iris recognition is widening or narrowing eyes, as well as changing focus, for example either focusing on the light or focusing "behind" the phone (I always keep my eyes fairly open and focus behind the phone).

 

[ashram]

Something to really try is after you initially register your corneas, is run "improve recognition" multiple times under varying conditions (outside during the day, at night, eyes open wide, etc)

 

[Doctor_Who]

I've turned it on. Giving it a try.

 

[Doctor_Who]

Something to really try is after you initially register your corneas, is run "improve recognition" multiple times under varying conditions (outside during the day, at night, eyes open wide, etc)

Really? So it significantly helps?

 

[ashram]

Really? So it significantly helps?

It did for me... I wear glasses and i haven't had an issue with it working for quite a long time now. Inside, outside, in the sun, in pitch darkness it just works for me

 

[humzahyaz]

Been using it for a year now and I still find it very futuristic. The choice is very personal; some like it some don't. Why don't you set it up on your Lumia 950 and check it out for your self. Go to setting > accounts > 'sign in options' and set it up.

 

[Doctor_Who]

OK Ashram, you've convinced me. I'm going to go out hiking today in the mountains. Will try running the improve recognition under outdoor, sunny conditions and see how it goes.


Rod

 

[ananimus]

It has improved a great deal since the early days. It is much faster. My only complaint is that there is no "frame" to help you aim the IR camera at yourself when you are trying to log in. On the XL at least, you have to hold it at a slight angle. Still seems a little like a beta feature, but much improved, more polished. Give it a try! Pro tip: spend some time improving recognition in different lighting, with/without glasses, etc.

I only trained mine a couple times, with and without glasses inside. Re: Framing, it seems to me that when I look at the little moving smiley face, it unlocks almost instantly, though angle to the phone also seems a factor.

That said, half the time it's still faster to bang in my pin number. :-/

For lighting conditions, I've seen it said that dim lighting is actually easier since it uses infrared. In practice I haven't seen a huge difference.

 

[mattiasnyc]

Just a note on speed though; I totally agree that it's sometimes clearly faster to punch in the pin, but I've noticed that people in general are very careless about typing in pin codes and even credit card numbers in public. So I actually am fine with waiting for an iris-unlock if I'm in public because at least I know for sure nobody saw me type in a code.

 

[ananimus]

Just a note on speed though; I totally agree that it's sometimes clearly faster to punch in the pin, but I've noticed that people in general are very careless about typing in pin codes and even credit card numbers in public. So I actually am fine with waiting for an iris-unlock if I'm in public because at least I know for sure nobody saw me type in a code.

We say that now. But in the future when we look at a billboard and get hit by targeted advertising, we'll see how the story goes. ;-)

(No one needs to know I bought that one thing...)

 

[mattiasnyc]

MS has explained pretty well though how biometric authentication works, and it doesn't actually send your iris-/finger-print to the cloud. So it's really a combination of a unique 'string' using the phone and user info, then combined with the biometric data, and that's then sent. So no third-party can extract just the iris info.

That was a pretty coarse description of course.

 

[lbp775]

I agree that it's faster to type in a pin. Which is what I use for the 950 most of the time.

It is much much faster on my Surface Pro 4 and Alienware 13R3 laptop so that's what I use to log into those devices.